Saturday, September 29, 2012

I rarely buy donuts, but decided to treat the kids to some Krispy Kreme donuts! Our favorite! The boys were all still sleeping, so the girls and I went. Addie wanted to eat her chocolate sprinkle donut there, so we stayed and ate. Here she is with her Krispy Kreme hat...a little big!

Here is Avery with her hat and donut! She LOVED the glazed ones! (She just likes to eat!!!)

Here is Addie taking one of her small, chipmonk-like bites!

Here is Avery eating her donut!

When it was time to leave, Avery had almost finished hers....

...and Addie had barely made a dent. (This would be typical for her) Do you see how small her bites are? It looks like she just nibbled the sides! I just don't understand that?!?! Its Krispy Kreme girl!!! Eat up!!!﻿

Friday, September 28, 2012

I read this article and found it quite interesting. Opinions welcomed.

In this election season, Republicans and Democrats have been touting the importance of family and hard work that make America a land of opportunity. Mitt Romney has talked about his father's love and rise from odd-job laborer to successful businessman. President Barack Obama has spoken of how his grandparents worked industriously to go to college, buy a house and raise their children.

While triumphant stories of middle-class families make for good campaign speeches, the truth is far less heartening.

America's policies to support workers and families are worse than any other country in the developed world and hardly better than some in the developing world. Take, for example, family leave policies. Until 1993, Americans had no guaranteed leave time from work whatsoever.

If you needed to take time off to care for a dying family member, there was not much you could have done to stop employers from firing you. With the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Americans were guaranteed 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year. However, because it is unpaid, workers who do not have sufficient income cannot take advantage of the leave.

In addition, the law only applies to workers who have been with a current employer for more than a year and who work at companies with more than 50 employees. Even if workers could afford it, fewer than half of those without a high school education are covered and eligible to take unpaid leave.

In 2011, Papua New Guinea had a GDP of nearly $13 billion, while the United States had a GDP of $15 trillion. Our GDP is more than 1,000 times that of the next richest country with no federal paid maternity leave. No wonder some believe that the U.S. has "the most family-hostile public policy" in the developed world.

We fall short of our status as an advanced nation in other ways, too, like in the amount of vacation time that employers are legally required to give to employees every year. Nearly 160 countries offer paid vacation days to workers, with many countries providing two weeks or more. The U.S. offers none.

What about sick days? Again, we are far behind numerous other countries.

The U.S. government does not mandate any minimum amount of paid sick leave for workers. This puts us alone among similar advanced nations. We have only unpaid sick leave for those covered under FMLA protections, and then it's up to individual companies to determine their own polices toward sick leave.

In our capitalist society, the task of providing necessary worker protections and family support has largely been left out of the hands of the government. Benevolent employers took it upon themselves to provide benefits to workers. But this model of "welfare capitalism" has greatly diminished in recent years. It's time for our government to re-evaluate its inaction.

Today, the family structure is changing rapidly in our country. More than 70% of women with children younger than 18 are in the work force. More and more, both parents have to work full time to support a middle-class family. Traditional models of balancing work and family commitments are badly out of date.

America has always been proud of its tradition of -- and belief in -- limited interference in the private sector. But our labor policies, especially as they apply to working families, are in dire need of updates. While the lack of federal work-family policies might be cheap and convenient for employers, there is no way that it's any good for families in the 21st century.

Instead of just talking about helping families, politicians need to implement family-oriented policies to help working mothers and fathers, and those who need to take more than a few days off to help care for a sick child. Whoever gets elected in November needs to take a hard look at the facts.

Our federal family policies certainly make America unique -- but not in the way we want.

Monday, September 24, 2012

So football season is in full swing and I finally remembered the camera so I could take some pictures at Jack's game! This first picture is of him getting read to tackle this kid.

Here he is about to take him down!

Almost got him!

Attack!!!

On the ground!!

He is the cutest player ever!

Go Falcons!!

Below are some photos of what the girls do during the games. Here they are eating snacks and enjoying the beautiful weather! Avery was actually taking the little crackers in and out of the container for fun. They were both really happy and super good!

It was odd, but Addie woudln't pose today! Maybe a little out of sorts?!?!﻿

Thursday, September 20, 2012

So Avery has decided that Daddy is "ok." This is a big deal because she wanted NOTHING at all to do with him the first week or so. He has been kissing her, hugging her, and bribing her with sweets and snacks in order to get a little smile - or ANYTHING!! There were times he sat next to her and she frowned and turned her body the other way! But the past couple days shes played with him, let him hold her, and magically, she fell asleep on his shoulder. It was a miracle! (So I took a picture!!) Mark was pretty happy too! :)

Sweet baby girl!

Addison ahd her first dance class last night. She has been supre clingy and crying about everything, and claimed she didn't want to go. He she is sitting in Dad's lap after I told she was going to dance whether she wanted to or not. See her little grin? Thats the "I got my daddy and he wont make me go" grin. She went. (And she had a great time and didn't cry!!!)

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Avery loves my make-up! She always wants my mirror and big brush to play. She also always wantes me to put listick on her. Its so cute! Here she is palying with my big brush. I need to go get her her own big brush!

Avery loves to eat. She eats everything I feed her, unlike Addison who eats so little I don't know how she survives! Here she is inhaling some Ramen Noodles with Jack (who was sweet enough to share with her!!)

Friday, September 14, 2012

Our first full day at home was wonderful! The girls are getting along quite well and they both love palying with Play Dough!

Playing with scissors...don't worry...they're just plastic kid-scissors!!

Avery was too busy to pose...Addison is never too busy to pose!

AH HA!!! I caught her smiling!!!

Remember the last photos I posted of Avery's bath at the hotel? (She was screaming!!! it didn't go well at all.) Well look at these!! She actually had fun in her bath! I was so thrilled! She was splashing and laughing. She thought it was hilarious that water was getting on her face! Amazing transformation! YAY!!!